Army sends convoy to help Bosnia flood victims

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The Austrian army has sent dozens of soldiers to the flooded areas of Bosnia-Herzegovina to help those in need.

"Quick action is needed now," Defence Minister Gerald Klug said during a formal send-off on Wednesday. He added that with the help of the international AFDRU (Austrian Forces Disaster Relief Unit), the army had the right equipment to offer quick and uncomplicated aid.

The convoy consists of 72 soldiers, 31 vehicles and 170 tonnes of equipment. Another seven soldiers are already in Bosnia-Herzegovina, making a total of one female and 78 male experts.

For the next three months, the soldiers will be producing around 240,000 litres of fresh water a day with decontamination units, which will be enough to sustain up to 50,000 people in Orasje in the northern part of Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Bosnia-Hercegovina's foreign minister has said that a quarter of the country's people are without clean water, and that the physical destruction wrought by the floods was at least as bad as that caused by the 1992-95 war.